How the forest is preserved
What can forest farmers, hunters and citizens do to preserve the forest?? This question was the subject of a forest tour to which the untersambach hunting association invited all forest owners and interested citizens from untersambach and abtswind. Technical support came from stefan kraus, forestry advisor from the office for agriculture in kitzingen, hunter golo grun, hunting leaseholder moritz fehrer as well as otto hunnerkopf as landscape ologist.
According to the press release, the participants learned about the need to rebuild the forest due to increasing heat and drought. The "death of the forest" is becoming particularly apparent this year by the many thorny pines that stand out red-brown from the ground of the forest. Climate-tolerant tree species such as oak, lime, cherry or maple are therefore necessary.
Deer like tasty young shoots
Another challenge is to limit deer populations so that the young trees are not browsed. "The deer seek out the tasty and nutritious young shoots of the trees", according to stefan kraus. This would primarily affect the oak, but also other species if they occur only rarely." Either these trees have to be protected individually by fencing them off until they are "out of the ashes" are outgrown, or they have to be fenced in shallowly. Examples of this could be seen in various forest stands: fenced silver fir, chestnut fir, nordmann fir or weymouth pine.
In addition to the direct protection of the young trees, a further measure is "stringent hunting of deer. But this is not easy, because the animals are unsettled by people crossing the forest off the beaten path, for example, and only leave the forest when darkness falls – at a time when they can no longer be hunted", according to golo grun.
Old trees are particularly valuable
Otto hunnerkopf pointed out that old trees, whether oak, copper beech or pine, are particularly valuable for biodiversity if they have broken branches, splits, hollows or injuries on the trunk. First mushrooms, then insects and oats, later also bird species such as woodpeckers find their habitat there. About the bavarian "forest" contract conservation program forest owners receive a bonus if they do not cut down biotope trees or leave deadwood in the forest, as it is finally called.